Oscilloscopes belong on the desk of every electrical engineer or hobbyist. They are invaluable in both debugging and characterizing a circuit. While most users can twist the knobs to make things show up on screen, most never fully understand what is happening behind the scenes. Having spent over a decade working at a couple of scope companies, I have unique insight into how these incredible machines actually work.

I’m super excited to be invited back to the Hardware Developers Didactic Galactic held at the SupplyFrame office (usually) in San Francisco. This time I’ll be talking about oscilloscopes (last time I spoke about Capacitors). The focus of my story is the mysterious “trigger” circuit found in all digital scopes. Which, ironically, is the last part of my presentation. 😉

If you’re in San Francisco this week, grab a seat at the HDDG22 Meetup.

The 2016 IEEE International Symposium on Electromagnetic Compatibility is sponsored by, no surprise, the IEEE Electromagnetic Compatibility Society (EMC-S). The EMC Society is the largest organization dedicated to reducing EMI. The society looks at standards, measurements, interference techniques, equipment, and a broad range of other activities.

Previously, I attended the show when it was in North Carolina. A wide variety of information complimented into the deep technical sessions. The vendors on the show floor were varied. I find this to be one of the most technical shows I attend.

James at IEEE EMC 2016

For the IEEE EMC 2016 conference, I am attending on behalf of my day job. I’ll be on the tradeshow on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Stop by the KEMET booth (#903) to learn about AC Chokes, EMI Filters, a flexible EMI shield, EMI Cores, and X/Y Safety Capacitors. Since I’ll be in Ottawa Monday through Friday, let me know if you’d like to meet up.

Finally, check out the EMC Society website if you’re interested in the group behind this conference.

KEMET Adds AEC-Q200 Capability

Back in December, John Day’s Automotive Electronics Blog featured a post I wrote. The subject was KEMET’s (then) recent Automotive product introductions. Here’s a summary of the article.

KEMET has been working hard to meet the needs of automotive engineers in recent months. These efforts have resulted in several technology developments that will be of particular interest to design engineers involved with automotive electronic systems.

Firstly, the company made several key developments in polymer electrolytic capacitor technology. Recent additions to their high-voltage MLCC’s ArcShield line include new automotive grade parts rated for >500V and an X2-Rated Film capacitor that passes AEC-Q200’s qualification guidelines as well.

Read more on John Day’s Automotive Electronics about KEMET’s AEC-Q200 Polymer Electrolytic Capacitors.

Super excited that I’ll be speaking at this month’s Hardware Developers Didactic Galactic (HDDG) #11. The meetup is on Thursday, February 18, 2016. It should come as no surprise that I’ll be talking about capacitors–something I have a bit of experience on.

Also presenting will be SnapEDA CEO’s Natasha Baker. I’ve written about SnapEDA in the past post, How to find Parts for your Electronics.

One reason to come is just to see what the Hackaday / Supplyframe office looks like!